W40K Thunderbolt Fighter, teeny-tiny scale

[oileanach]

Anticipating being furloughed for months on end, I bought a couple of GW board games to pass the time. Alas fortunately I'm a 'key worker', so I was spared long days fighting aerial campaigns in the W40K grimdark and the Titan Legion I planned are still in their box... yay, etc 🙄

 

Still, while I might not have enough time to fight endless miniature dogfights, I have been able to put some hours into building and painting a beautifully realised little Imperial fighter bomber.

 

Here's what you get in the kit:

 

 

 

 

[oileanach]

The first thing to do is decide how I'm going to paint it. I'm a big airbrush fan, but this is probably too small for any of that malarkey. Ach, what the heck, let's give it a go anyway!

 

Not the best pre-shading I've ever done, but hey ho...

 

 

Next up, what kind of scheme to use? There's something about the T-bolt that reminds me of old warbirds, maybe that'd work?

 

 

Sooo, how to weather it? Stay tuned! 😀

[oileanach]

Ok, well there's the salt weathering technique, a personal favorite of mine. 

 

If you've never tried it, it's very similar to salt chipping. The first step is to apply a little salt to damp areas on a gloss model:

 

 

 

Then apply thin coats of heavily thinned light paint to the upper surfaces, dark to the underside. Let it all thoroughly dry out, then remove the salt. Rubbing with paper towels usually gets decent results.

 

Sadly, something went wrong this time around. Perhaps I didn't have enough gloss varnish on the wee model, perhaps I should have applied more weathering paint, but either way, once the salt was removed there was hardly any difference between the salted areas and the surrounding paintwork. Ah well, no harm done, it did tone down the colours a little, giving a more pleasing, muted appearance.  

 

 

 

Home straight now, just a little brush work to show wear and tear, some soot, oil stains and perhaps some inks to re-establish the cockpit glass. 

 

If you're ever tempted to buy one of these- and why not? it's a beautiful sculpt!- just be careful about the engine detail. I didn't glue those little hoses in place well enough, so the first time I handled the completed model I managed to knock them inside the 'plane! There's no way to take the 'plane apart to get at them. Gutted....

... luckily I managed to find some tweezers small enough to grip the parts and pull them back into place with a far more generous application of cement, but it almost wrecked the whole thing. 

[rockpopandchips]

That's a great looking aircraft, do you need to paint a squadron of these now.?

[oileanach]

8 hours ago, rockpopandchips said:

That's a great looking aircraft, do you need to paint a squadron of these now.?

Kind of. There are only two Thunderbolts in the starter box, but there are nine models in all, included are two Imperial bombers, three Ork fighters and two Ork bombers. I don't have a lot of time to spare, it's taken me over a month to get this far with the wee 'plane, so it's going to be a while before I have a complete squadron on either side!

 

There's a second box set out now, so that'll be ten more models on the bench. Not the worst problem I've ever had, but I'm going to be busy with these for a wee while yet. 😁

 

My plan for the Ork 'planes is to brush paint them, which should be a bit quicker- it takes an age to properly mask and prepare something this small. But I'm not in any hurry. I've really enjoyed this one, I don't think the rest will be a chore. 

Edited June 14, 2020 by oileanach

[rockpopandchips]

A lot of work but might under coat with a can of black and highlight with a with can of white or grey then use some thinned paint to brush on. Batch paint aircraft sounds easier than figures ( ignorance is bliss). I have add a look at this set on line today and I must say very tempted when back at work. 

[oileanach]

😀 Painting them is the bit I enjoy, it's easy enough to reach a decent table standard, a single evening is doable, but I like taking my time over things. It's why my pile of shame is likely to classified as a Munro at the next Ordinance Survey! 😆

[Will Vale]

Ha, I love the idea of the shame pile adding to the Munro round

 

The Aeronautica kits might be the best designed things GW have done - I've just built the second starter box models and they are *gorgeous*.

 

Your Thunderbolt looks great, much more exciting colours than mine - shades of both German and Italian fighters in the camo. I'm still stuck on what colour to do the bombers, I should probably just go with grey.

 

W

[oileanach]

Nah Will, go for something a bit wilder! Grey is good in the real World, but we've got much more freedom in the Grimdark. 😎

[oileanach]

Ok, I'm a wee bit further on now. The first fighter is finished- for now! I may add some more 'wear and tear' later. (Can't leave well alone, me... 🙄)

 

There was a rather splendid looking transfer in the box, which I've applied to the second T-Bolt. Unfortunately, the tiny cut I made to allow a bit of raised detail on the wing show looks enormous on the mini. Out with the hairy sticks again, I suppose...

 

 

No harm done, it was easy enough to sketch in:

 

 

I'll stick some pics in the RFI of the two of them. Next up, the Imperial bombers!